Method and apparatus for the casino Feng Shui slot machine game

ABSTRACT

A slot machine that allows a player to make multiple bets of differing amounts for a simulated roll of three dice, and also allows the player to bet upon the selection of a given Feng Shui indictor from a set of Feng Shui indicators. The slot machine contains a display mechanism that includes a carousel wheel having inner and middle wheels divided into 6 segments and an outer wheel divided into six pairs of segments. Each wheel contains the numbers 1 to 6 and the outer wheel also contains the Feng Shui indicators. The carousel can be spun so that its wheels rotate with different degrees of freedom and independently of one another; the inner and middle wheels can spin in opposite directions of each other while the outer wheel can remain stationary while its designators are shuffled. The slot machine is controlled by a computer software program and the length of time that the control mechanism takes to create the session spin of the carousel can be at least partly dependent upon the total number of betting units wagered by a player for a session spin. The input mechanism of the slot machine allows a player to make session bets selected from a group of Sic Bo bets tied to the outcome of the simulated roll of three dice, and these bets can be represented by certain numbers related to the Sic Bo bets.

NOTICE OF RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/919,092, filed Aug. 16, 2004, the disclosure of which isspecifically incorporated herein by reference, and is related to anotherpatent application being filed concurrently herewith entitled “Methodand Apparatus for the Casino Feng Shui Sic Bo Game,” the disclosure ofwhich is also specifically incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention is in the field of games of chance. In particular, thisinvention discloses a method and apparatus for creating a slot machineconcept based upon the ancient Chinese dice game of Sic Bo (Tai Sai).This is accomplished by adding the game feature of the Chinese folkculture of Feng Shui, the use of new apparatus and a novel summingrepresentation for the betting rules of the old game.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Sic Bo (table game), known to some people as Tai Sai, means dice pair inChinese. It is an ancient Chinese game of chance. It may have originallyused a pair of dice shaken between a plate and an overturned bowl, buttoday it commonly has three dice in a cage for tumbling. Extremelypopular in Asian cultures, this exciting and engaging game is winningnew converts in many casinos around the world. Sic Bo (table game, TaiSai) is easy to play. The object is to pick the numbers or combinationsthat will appear on the dice when they come to rest after tumbling.There are 50 different ways to place bets, so players have plenty ofchoices with a range of payouts—some as high as 180-to-1.

Most casino Sic Bo tables offer the following types of bets (describedbelow from top to bottom of the betting summary chart layout as depictedin FIG. 1):

Small Bet (Under 11)

Small bets win when the point total of the three dice is between 4 and10 (also expressed as “Under 11”). The payout is 1-to-1 unless there isa low Triple (Triple 1s, 2s or 3s), in which case the Small bet loses.There are 108 possible combinations of the three dice that add up topoint totals under 11, and only 3 of them are Triples.

Specific Double

To win a Specific Double bet, two of the three dice must show the Doubleone selects. The payout is 10-to-1. There are six Specific doubles betsthat one can make (and one can place bets on any or all of them for anytumbling). If the third dice also matches the Specific double number (inother words, when the result is a Triple), the Specific Double bet stillwins.

Specific Triple

To win a Specific Triple bet, all three of the dice must show theSpecific Triple one selects. The payout is 180-to-1. There are sixSpecific Triples bets one can make (and one can place bets on any or allof them for any tumbling).

Any Triple

To win the Any Triple bet, all three of the dice must show the samenumber, but it can be any of the six possible numbers. This bet wins onany triple result. The payout is 30-to-1.

Big Bet (Over 10)

Big bets win when the point total of the three dice is between 11 and 17(also expressed as “Over 10”). The payout is 1-to-1 unless there is ahigh Triple (Triple 4s, 5s or 6s), in which case the Big bet loses.There are 108 possible combinations of the three dice that add up topoint totals over 10, and only 3 of them are Triples.

Specific Total

To win a Specific Total bet, all three of the dice must add up to theSpecific Total one selects. The payout varies depending on the totalselected, from 6-to-1 to 60 to-1 (as indicated in the betting chartlayout shown in FIG. 1 and the payout summary table shown in FIG. 2).There are fourteen Specific Total bets one can make: total so 4 through17 (and one can place bets on any or all of them for any tumbling). Forany given tumbling, only one of the fourteen totals can win.

Pair Match

To win a Pair match bet, two of the three of the dice must make the pairselected. The payout is 5-to-1 on each pair. There are fifteen PairMatch bets one can make (and one can place bets on any or all of themfor any tumbling). Note that for a result with three single (for example1, 4, 5), three of the Pair match bets will win (in this example: 1&4,1&5 and 4&5).

Numbers Bet

If one places a wager on any of the six numbered boxes in the “NumbersBet” area at the bottom of the betting summary chart layout shown inFIG. 1 (the largest die labeled one, two, three, four, five or six) onecan win according to how many of the three dice come up with theselected number. Matching Number Payout 1 of 3 (a Single) 1:1 2 of 3 (aDouble) 2:1 3 of 3 (a Triple) 10:1 Thus, if all three dice come up 4, any wager on the Number 4 die betwould pay 10-to-1. One can bet on as many individual Numbers as onelikes.

Despite the fact that the game of Sic Bo could be found in Las Vegascasinos since the early 1950's, albeit only in a few small gamblingjoints, the game has never gained the same kind of popularity over theyears as other casino games such as Black Jack, Craps, Roulette,Baccarat and Poker. There are several reasons to explain this fact.First and foremost, Sic Bo has always been identified as a game ofChinese origin. From before the 1950's up till the time when Congressfinally passed the Civil Rights Act of 1962, racial segregation existed,to various degrees and in various forms, in the United States, and thissegregation helps to explain why the game of Sic Bo has been largelyignored by the general public until recently.

Second, the Sic Bo game itself is indeed very unique when compared withthe other popular casino games. Sic Bo can be played very simply, likemaking the Small and Big bets as explained earlier above. On the otherhand, playing the game can also be exceedingly complex as there are 50different ways to make bets and it will take most players quite a longtime to develop the kind of betting strategies that they wouldindividually enjoy.

Third, Sic Bo is an ancient Chinese game played with veryunsophisticated apparatus like three dice, a plate and a bowl. Virtuallyno changes have been made to this ancient apparatus as the game waspassed down from hundreds of years ago to today. Usually there is anoperator, one of the casino staff, who is responsible for the tumblingof the three dice using a relatively small “cage” and announcing theresult. Players gather around the operator and place bets on a long andnarrow table top displaying all the betting possibilities for the game.The result of the tumbling dice, as made known to the players by theoperator, can only be verified by those few players immediately in thevicinity of the operator. The rest of the players, especially when thereare many playing the game, who can be many feet away from the operator,have literally to take the operator's word for granted. This is perhapsthe most serious weakness of the Sic Bo game, not to mention the remoteyet realistic chance of encountering the “loaded dice” fraud, that mustbe dealt with if ever it can become a popular casino game in thebusiness.

Finally, as more and more gambling visitors from Asia, especially fromChina, come to play in casinos in the U.S., the original game of Sic Bo,which albeit is by far their favorite game to play, carries with it abad stigma as a reminder to them of the racially segregated America ofyesteryears. Thus, something has to be done about this game in order toshift the attention of these Asian visitors coming to visit the US fromAmerica's imperfect past to being recognized as the cradle of racialdiversity in the world of today.

The present inventor recognizes a golden opportunity, based upon theunique circumstances surrounding the Sic Bo game in America, viz. theAmerican society from the early 1950's to the present time and therecent emergence of China as a world economical power as discussedearlier, to create a slot machine for the first time based upon the SicBo game. In order to accomplish this feat successfully, the Sic Bo gameis first rendered grandiose by replacing the tumbling of the three dicewith the spinning motion of a beautiful multicolor carousel controlledby computer software and projected onto a computer monitor or a bigscreen. Next, a novel summing representation for all the betting rulesof the game is devised. Finally, in order to entice a new generation ofChinese visitors to play this slot machine game in America or elsewherein the world, a feature of their beloved folk culture Feng Shui is addedto the game. This is most opportune since not only are the growingnumbers of Asian tourists, especially from China, very important toAmerica's tourist industry and economy, their understanding of theAmerican people, particularly of their diverse societal culture andbehavior, serves to sustain a strong relationship between the US andChina, thus contributing directly to the future stability and harmony ofthe world.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is generally directed to a slot machine thatallows a player to make multiple bets of differing amounts for asimulated roll of three dice, and also allows the player to bet upon theselection of a given Feng Shui indicator from a set of Feng Shuiindicators, such as a set associated with luck, wealth, wind, longevity,health and fertility.

In a first, separate group of aspects of the present invention, the slotmachine contains a display mechanism that includes a carousel wheelhaving an inner wheel divided into x inner wheel segments, each of whichbears an inner wheel designation, a middle wheel divided into ysegments, each of which bears a middle wheel designation, and an outerwheel divided into z outer wheel segments, each of which bears an outerwheel designation, wherein y is greater than or equal to x, z is greaterthan or equal to y and both y and z are divisible by x. After thecarousel is spun, and each of inner, the middle and the outer wheelshave rotated, the wheels will stop such that each of the inner wheelsegments will align itself moving outwardly from the inner wheel with(y÷x) of the middle wheel segments and (z÷x) of the outer wheelsegments, and they can each stop at different times. When the carouselis displaying a Sic Bo game, x and y will be 6 while z will either be 12or six pairs, each of which will contain a number designation and a FengShui designation, and all of the inner and middle wheel designationswill be number designations representing dice. The carousel can be spunso that each of the inner, the middle and the outer wheels rotate withdifferent degrees of freedom and independently of one another; the innerand middle wheels can spin in opposite directions of each other whilethe outer wheel can remain stationary and its designators are shuffled.

In other, separate aspects of the present invention, the slot machine iscontrolled by a computer software program, a pseudo random numbergeneration program is used to simulate roll of the three dice andselection of the Feng Shui indicator and the length of time that thecontrol mechanism takes to create the session spin of the carousel is atleast partly dependent upon the total number of betting units wagered bythe player for the session spin.

In still other, separate aspects of the present invention, the inputmechanism of the slot machine allows a player to make session betsselected from a group of Sic Bo bets tied to the outcome of thesimulated roll of three dice, and these bets can be represented bycertain numbers related to the Sic Bo bets.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to providean improved slot machine.

This and further objects and advantages will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art in connection with the drawings and the detaileddescription of the preferred embodiments set forth below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the betting summary chart layout for the traditional Sic Bogame.

FIG. 2 shows the payout summary table for the traditional Sic Bo game.

FIG. 3 shows the design of a computer software conceived carouselemulating exactly the tumbling action of the three dice in the Sic Bogame.

FIG. 4 shows the design of a computer software conceived carousel forthe currently invented Feng Shui Slot Machine game.

FIG. 5 lists the alphanumeric codes for all the possible bets for thecurrently invented Feng Shui Slot Machine game.

FIG. 6 shows a possible representation for the currently invented FengShui Slot Machine showing a summary of all possible bets with theiralphanumeric codes and payout odds, display screen and the buttons A-Fand 0-9 for entering various bets.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention takes advantage of the fact that, to the best ofthe inventor's knowledge, there are no slot machines existing todaywhich are devised based upon the concept of the ancient Chinese dicegame of Sic Bo. However, in order for one to be able to implement theSic Bo game as a slot machine game, its extensive betting possibilities(exactly 50 ways) must first be systematically and logically coded usinga novel representation scheme. In addition, since the Sic Bo game is aheavy favorite among Chinese gamblers, the Chinese folk culture of FengShui (wind and water) is opportunistically introduced as an addedplaying feature to the game in order to entice the growing number ofChinese visitors to play this slot machine game in Las Vegas (andelsewhere). Finally, the tumbling of the three dice in a cage isreplaced with the spinning motion of a carousel whose design is basedupon the use of a computer software program.

Feng Shui in Chinese means wind and water. Its origins date back severalthousand years to ancient China. The geography of that vast landrequires careful consideration when constructing a building since themountain winds can be severe and the lower areas are prone to flooding.Thus for the ancient Chinese, Feng Shui literally means “luckengineering”. However, the ancient Chinese did not consider luck assynonymous with chance. To them luck was opportunity and they believedthat even if presented with opportunity many of us do not act and graspit with both hands. Today Feng Shui remains as both a fascinating and arevered living concept for the Chinese. They not only believe in FengShui, but also strive to improve it whenever and wherever possible inorder to increase their opportunity, thereby enhancing their luck inwhatever they are doing.

Practically speaking, this Chinese folk culture of Feng Shui couldtherefore be interpreted as an “art of professional placement” or“opportunity engineering”. For the modern Chinese, it is most importantfor them to seek harmony with Feng Shui, meaning for them to find oridentify opportunities for themselves and then to pursue them. The sixopportunities most recognized with Feng Shui are, respectively: 1) Windor the ability to trend events; 2) Longevity; 3) Health; 4) Fertility,as in the ability to have a male baby; 5) Luck, as in the winning of alottery; and 6) Personal Wealth. Thus, one is advised to constantly seekout these opportunities in the hope that they can be realized byexecuting the right strategies.

The incorporation of the concept of Feng Shui as an added playingfeature to the ancient game of Sic Bo to Chinese gamblers is likened tothe addition of butter to a steamed ear of fresh corn before eating tocorn lovers. After all, if they can win more money at the gambling tableor slot machine by identifying and pursuing the prevailing Feng Shui, itwould be the best of two worlds for them.

The “computer software carousel”, or simply referred to as the“carousel”, is created by custom computer software programs designed tomeet the desired performance characteristics selected in conjunctionwith the inventive concepts set forth herein. In an especially preferredembodiment, the carousel is essentially a coplanar structure of threewheels, designated as the inner, the middle and outer wheel,respectively, all sharing a common axis and also commonly “geared” toonly six possible angular positions. Each of the three wheels can rotatewith their own degree of freedom. In other words, each wheel can eitherindependently rotate in a clockwise direction, a counterclockwisedirection or remain stationary. Both the inner and the middle wheel aredivided up into six equal sectors (or segments) each of which spans anangular extent of 60 degrees out of a possible 360 degrees for a circle.The outer wheel is divided into twelve (12) equal sectors each spanningan angle of 30 degrees. The top 60° sector or quadrant is designated asthe House's or Casino's domain pointer.

Because of the fact that the three wheels are commonly “geared” torotate in only intervals of 60 degrees, the wheels cannot arbitrarily bestopped with their sectors randomly registered in angles other thanexactly 60 degrees. To add contents to the respective wheels, both theinner and the middle wheel are populated with the numbers of the sixfaces of a dice, namely, one, two, three, four, five and six. For theouter wheel, six sectors are filled with the numbers of the six faces ofa dice, like the inner and middle wheels. The other six sectors arefilled with the six opportunity designators of Feng Shui discussedearlier, namely, Wind, Longevity, Health, Fertility, Luck and Health.The opportunity designators might be depicted by various symbols, orwords, or a combination of the two, but it is especially preferred, formachines geared to cater to Chinese or Asian visitors, that theopportunity designators include a Chinese character representing theFeng Shui opportunity. When the three wheels of the carousel are made torotate and stop randomly according to random number generator software(or, for those skilled in the art of computer programming, a pseudorandom number generation program), their final positions with respect tothe House's 60° domain pointer will also be random. Accordingly, withthe exception of the addition of the six Feng Shui opportunitydesignators, the spinning and subsequent stopping of the threeindependent wheels of the carousel with respect to House's domainpointer is exactly likened to, and thus simulates, tumbling of threedice with each wheel being identified as one of three dice. Furthermore,a particular Feng Shui opportunity designator will also be randomlyselected as indicated by the same pointer for every spin of the carouselor the tumbling for the three dice.

By replacing the tumbling of the three dice in a traditional Sic Bo gamewith the spinning of the computer software carousel, not only will aFeng Shui designator be randomly determined for a particular spin, theoutcome of the tumbling for the Sic Bo game will also be determined bythe stopping position of the carousel at the House's designated domainpointer. In this way, the Chinese folk culture of Feng Shui can readilybe incorporated into the traditional Sic Bo game.

To complete the implementation of the Sic Bo game into a slot machinegame, a novel representation or coding scheme for the 300 possible betsto play the Sic Bo game including the Feng shui feature is devised. Thisscheme, along with further objects and advantages of the presentinvention, will be described in greater detail below with theaccompanying drawings.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show, respectively, the betting summary chart layout andthe payout summary table for the traditional Sic Bo game. By simplysurmising these two tables, one can readily appreciate the dynamic rangeof betting for this game, from the very simple Small and Big bets to 50ways of betting the various combinations of the three dice. No wonderthe Chinese have been playing this game for centuries and continue tolove playing it even until today.

FIG. 3 shows the design of a carousel that simulates the results of thetumbling action of the three dice in the Sic Bo game. The carousel 1 isa coplanar structure of three wheels, designated as the inner wheel 2,the middle wheel 3 and the outer wheel 4, respectively, all sharing acommon axis 5 and also commonly “geared” to only six possible angularpositions or quadrants 6-11 as shown in FIG. 3. Each wheel has its owndegree of freedom in rotation or spinning. In other words, each wheelcan either be made to independently rotate in a clockwise direction, acounterclockwise direction or remain stationary. Because of the factthat the three wheels are commonly “geared” to rotate in only angularincrements of 60 degrees, the wheels cannot be arbitrarily stopped withtheir sectors randomly registered in angles other than exactly 60degrees.

All three wheels, 2, 3 and 4, are divided up equally into six segments,and of which 12 is an example for the inner wheel 2. The face number ofa dice, namely, one, two, three, four, five and six, occupy,respectively, the six segments of each of the three wheels as shown inFIG. 3. The top 60 degrees quadrant 6 is designated as the Casino orHouse pointer. In other words, the contents of the three segmentsbelonging respectively to the three wheels, namely 13 (face number “one”of dice) of the inner wheel 2, 14 (face number “three” of dice) ofmiddle wheel 3 and 15 (face number “four” of dice) of outer wheel 4 aredeemed the result of a particular spin for the Casino or House. This isequivalent to and simulates a three-dice tumbling outcome when theCasino or the House is doing the tumbling of the dice. Thus, every timecarousel 1 is made to spin, which simulates the tumbling of the threedice, the contents (face numbers of the three wheels) of the spin asrepresented by the Casino or House's quadrant pointer are the outcome ofthe tumbling. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the dice numbers showingup after the tumbling of the three dice are 1, 3 and 4, respectively.

The presently invented Feng Shui slot Machine game takes advantage ofthe computer software carousel for incorporating the concept of FengShui into the Sic Bo game. In order to accomplish this, the outer wheel16 of carousel 17 is divided equally into twelve (12) equal segments (orsix pairs of segments) as shown in FIG. 4. Six of the 12 segments arealternately occupied by the six face numbers of a dice and the other sixsegments are alternately occupied by the six designated opportunities ofFeng Shui, which in this case are, starting from the top 60° quadrantpointer 18 with a dice face number six 19 and going clockwise, Health20, Fertility 21, Luck 22, Wealth 23, Wind 24 and Longevity 25, allrepresented in Chinese characters. The top 600 quadrant 18 will bedesignated as the pointer for the Casino (House) as in the case forcarousel 1 (quadrant 6) depicted in FIG. 3.

Unlike the carousel 1 portrayed in FIG. 3 to simulate the tumbling ofthe three dice when all three wheels are spinning to establish anoutcome, only the middle wheel 26 and the inner wheel 27 of the carousel17 spin while the outer wheel remains stationary. However, the positionsof the six dice face numbers on the outer wheel 16 will be shuffledduring the time when the other two wheels of the carousel are spinningand the positions of the six Feng Shui opportunity designators will alsobe shuffled independently in the same manner. The end result is thatboth the dice face numbers and the Feng Shui opportunity designatorswill be randomly rearranged in the outer wheel 16 via computer softwareprogram and activation of carousel 17 can be exactly likened tosimulated tumbling of three dice in the traditional Sic Bo game but withthe addition of the new Feng Shui playing feature, namely, a particularFeng Shui opportunity designator rendered real by being included in theHouse's domain pointer 18.

It is relatively easy and straight forward to play the presentlyinvented Feng Shui Slot Machine game, especially for those who arealready familiar with how Sic Bo is played. To play the Feng Shui SlotMachine game, one simply follows the way that a traditional Sic Bo gameis played with only an additional Feng Shui opportunity designator bet.For example, instead of placing a Big bet, one now can place a Big betwith a Feng Shui opportunity designator like Fertility with it, or Bigbet Fertility. If after the spinning of the carousel 17, the total sumof the three dice (4,1,6) is 11 and the Feng Shui opportunity designatoris Health 20 (see FIG. 4), then the bet is lost on account of the FengShui even though the Big bet wins. On the other hand, if the outcome ofthe carousel 17 spin is (4,1,6) Fertility, then the payout is five (5)times the Big bet odds which normally pays only 1:1 in the traditionalSic Bo game. The factor of five (5) additional payout is arbitrarilydetermined here and the real payout factor will be ultimately decided bythe casino operator running the Casino Feng Shui Slot Machine game. Insummary, the payout for the presently invented Feng Shui slot Machinegame is exactly as shown in FIG. 2 with the additional payout of five(5) or a factor decided by a particular casino operator for the FengShui opportunity designator win.

In order to facilitate incorporation of all 50 possible bets of thetraditional Sic Bo game plus independently the six (6) additional FengShui bets, a grand total of 300 possible bets, into the Feng Shui SlotMachine, a novel code is devised to represent all the 300 possible betswith a leading indicator, which is preferably a letter in an especiallypreferred embodiment (six of them), followed by no more than 3 numericaldigits or numbers. The six letters arbitrarily chosen are A, B, C, D, Eand F representing respectively the Feng Shui Opportunity Designators“Luck”, “Wealth”, “Wind”, “Longevity”, “Health” and “Fertility”. For the50 possible bets of the traditional Sic Bo game, the 1-3 digit numericcodes representing them, namely NNN, where N can be any number from “0”to “9”, are preferably selected in such a way so as to enable the playerto naturally identify and easily remember them.

For example, with reference to the betting summary chart layout for thetraditional Sic Bo game, the numbers “1” and “2” are used to represent,respectively, the Small and Big Sic Bo bets (first row of bets in FIG.1). The number “3” is used to represent the Sic Bo bet for Any Triples(middle of first row). The digits from “4” to “17” are used to denote,respectively, the Sic Bo bets for the sum of numbers from 4 to 17(second row bets of FIG. 1). The digits “21”, “22” through “26” are usedto represent the Sic Bo Double bets (first row) for pairs of 1, 2,through 6, respectively. The digits “31”, “32” through “36” are used torepresent the Sic Bo Triple bets (first row) for triples of 1, 2 through6, respectively. Finally, the 3-digit numerical codes with a leadingzero are used to represent both the third row (see FIG. 1) two-numberSic Bo bets and the fourth row single number Sic Bo bets as follows. Thecode “012” represents the two-number bet that dice numbers “1” and “2”will show up. Similarly, the code “056” represents the two-number betthat dice numbers “5” and “6” will show up. In the same manner, the code“01” represents the single-number bet that dice number “1” will show upand “06” represents the single-number bet that dice number “6” will showup (row 4 in FIG. 1).

Alphanumeric codes for all possible bets for the Feng Shui Slot Machinegame are listed in FIG. 5. For example, the bet “A1” means that the FengShui opportunity designator A or “Luck” is bet along with the Small bet.The bet “A2” means that the Feng Shui “Luck” is bet along with the Bigbet. Similarly, the bet “A36” means the Feng Shui “luck” is bet alongwith the Triple bet for the number “6” and so on. Note that one can betthe Feng Shui opportunity designators independently of the dice numbers.Thus, one can bet a simple “F” for Fertility without any dice numberbets. The payout in this case is 5:1. Note also that the dice numbersthemselves can also be bet without the Feng Shui opportunitydesignators. Thus, a bet “13” would mean a bet for the total sum of thethree dice add up to 13 and with no Feng Shui bets.

FIG. 6 shows a possible conceptual representation for the currentlyinvented Feng Shui Slot Machine game showing a top section 28 displayinga summary of all the possible bets with their alphanumeric codes andpayout odds, the display screen 29 and two rows of buttons 30 depictedas A-F and 0-9 for entering the various particular bets to the slotmachine. In addition, an actual slot machine would require a means bywhich betting units (or money) can be collected, and this could beaccomplished by a traditional slot for coins, or a slot for bills, oreven by some other means, such as a method for reading a stored value,credit or debit card (either by a magnetic stripe reader or a smart cardreader, or by some physically contactless connection). Also, it isespecially desirable that the slot machine be able to accommodate,identify, and account for multiple bets, so that players can makemultiple bets, with varying betting units or amounts wagered ondifferent bets, for the same spin. This could be done by adding anadditional bet tab in the row of buttons 30, and by designing thedisplay screen (or at least its software) to allow it to list bets for aparticular spin, along with amounts bet in connection with each bet, andthen to also provide a summary of the results of the bets for each spin.Thus, by way of example only, the screen might have a column identifyingwagers, the amount wagered for each bet, the odds associated with eachbet, the results of the wager (either win or loss, after the spin), thepayout (if any) for each wager, plus a cumulative payout (if any) forall bets and the spin.

In a variant of the preferred embodiment, a player could be allowed toselect any of the six possible 60 degrees quadrants as the Casino orHouse quadrant (thus, effectively, changing the location of thepointer), or a player could be allowed to make one or more bets basedupon the outcome of multiple 60 degrees quadrants, in which case all ofthe bets for a single 60 degrees quadrant would be determined based uponwhat designators are within said quadrant, and this determination wouldnot affect the results of the betting in another 60 degrees quadrant,except for the fact that the designators in one 60 degrees quadrantobviously could not end up in another 60 degrees quadrant. Thus, forexample, if a player was allowed to place bets for six 60 degreesquadrants, and a Feng Shui bet was placed in each of the six 60 degreesquadrants, one of the Feng Shui bets would have to win (if it was notcombined with a losing Sic Bo bet), while five would have to lose.

A Feng Shui slot machine, in accordance with the teachings set forthherein, can be designed to enhance many aspects of a player's gamingexperience. Because traditional slot machines have wheels that rotatethree-dimensionally out of the viewing plane of a player, the upcomingsymbols for a given selection point are not visible; also, because slotmachines traditionally rotate very fast, the result is a blur, which isnot especially pleasing or interesting to watch. In newer electronicslot machines, there is no “wheel” to rotate at all, so the machinescreate a blur by moving through possible frames or selections so fastthat they create a blur. Not only does such a display suffer from thedrawbacks of mechanical wheel slot machines, but it is also hard towatch and can create eye strain for viewers after prolonged periods. Thepresent invention helps to eliminate these problems by creating anaesthetically pleasing, and interesting, display in which the player'sattention is captured, and the player's enjoyment is increased, bywatching the two dimensional rotation of the wheels through differentpossibilities. In this sense, the present invention, or at least itsdisplay, is more akin to the spinning of a traditional money wheel or aroulette wheel, as opposed to a traditional slot machine, and thus itadds the enjoyment of anticipating exactly where the wheels will stop,while the player can view his or choices slowing spinning and comingclose to, or in, or moving beyond, the designated selection point.Accordingly, in designing the software for the carousel, a designer cancontrol the speed and timing of spinning the wheels to enhance aplayer's experience. In an especially preferred embodiment, the innerwheel will be designed to stop its rotation first, so the result of thatspin (or simulated roll) is made known to the player, and then, afteranother brief period, the middle wheel stops its rotation, and then,after another brief period, the results for the outer wheel aredisplayed. It is believed that this presentation heightens theexpectation and anticipation, and thus the pleasure of the player'sgaming experience, especially since the Feng Shui indicator is notdetermined initially. This timing aspect of the present invention, aswell as the anticipation tied to viewing spinning wheels, is differentfrom traditional Sic Bo, when all three dice are rolled simultaneously,and believed to be an improvement.

Because many aspects of the design of a Feng Shui slot machine can becontrolled by a designer of its software and thus customized toparticular goals, such a slot machine offers many differentopportunities for variances and customization. In this regard, giventhat the timing and speed of rotation of the wheels can be controlled, adesigner might also wish to provide players with options concerningthese parameters. For example, a hard core impatient gambler might notwant to enjoy the anticipation of spinning wheel, and might want to justget to the end result. To accommodate such wishes, the Sic Bo slotmachine could be designed to allow a player to provide input into howlong the carousel will spin. However, because it is believed that thespinning enhances player enjoyment, instead of detracting from it, itmight be desirable to either increase, or allow the player the option ofincreasing spin time, with increased bets. Because increased spin timemeans less potential revenue to an operator of the Sic Bo slot machine,increased betting for a single spin would compensate the operator forincreased spin time. So, for example, if the carousel spins for a periodof x time for a minimum bet of one betting unit, the carousel might spinfor a period of x plus y time for a bet that exceeds a preselectedthreshold over the minimum bet, or the increased time might be steppedup in accordance with preselected thresholds. This type of variationmight be especially appropriate if the player is allowed to choosemultiple 60 degree quadrants for which bets are made, in which case theplayer might also enjoy increased spin time.

From the foregoing, it should be readily apparent to a person ofordinary skill in the art that the present disclosure sets forth a novelslot machine that can be customized to take advantage of, and appeal to,a specific niche demographic group—Chinese and Asian persons who enjoygambling. While the novel slot machine can also be enjoyed by persons ofdifferent heritage, it is particularly well-suited to Chinese and Asianpersons because of their familiarity with Sic Bo and the appeal of FengShui. As such, it offers something enjoyable and appealing to ademographic group that has heretofore been largely neglected, or towhich no specific appeal has been made in terms of traditional slotmachines.

While the invention has been described herein with reference to certainpreferred embodiments, those embodiments have been presented by way ofexample only, and not to limit the scope of the invention. Additionalembodiments thereof will be obvious to those skilled in the art havingthe benefit of this detailed description. Further modifications are alsopossible in alternative embodiments without departing from the inventiveconcepts described herein. For example, although the preferredembodiment has been described as using a carousel wheel in which theinner and middle wheels are rotated, while the outer wheel remainsstationary and its designators are shuffled, a slot machine can bedesigned, based upon the teachings set forth herein, in which all threewheels remain stationary, all of their designators are shuffled, andthen they start to populate the wheels in a preselected order. Althoughsuch an embodiment is believed to be less desirable than the especiallypreferred embodiment described herein, especially because it lacks theunique aesthetic appeal of two wheels spinning in opposite directions,it would certainly be an improvement over what exists today. Similarly,while the preferred embodiment has been described in connection with theSic Bo game, a slot machine could be designed, based upon the teachingsset forth herein, that uses three wheels that rotate as describedherein, that are populated with designators other than dice numbers orFeng Shui indicators, and such a slot machine would still take advantageof the novel aesthetic appeal of two wheels spinning in oppositedirections in a two-dimensional plane, as opposed to thethree-dimensional spinning of wheels contained in traditional slotmachines in which only a portion of the wheel is visible at any giventime. In such a slot machine, the number of designators located in theinner wheel can be defined by x, the number of designators located inthe middle wheel can be defined by y, and the number of designatorslocated in the outer wheel can be defined by z, where y is greater thanor equal to x, z is greater than or equal to y and both y and z aredivisible by x.

Accordingly, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art thatfurther changes and modifications in the actual concepts describedherein can readily be made without departing from the spirit and scopeof the disclosed inventions as defined by the following claims.

1. A slot machine, comprising: a display mechanism for representing theresults of a simulated roll of three dice and a selection of a Feng Shuiindicator from a set of Feng Shui indicators in which each indicatorrepresents a single unique Feng Shui designation, for a given simulatedroll of three dice and selection of the Feng Shui indicator; an inputmechanism for allowing a player to make one or more session bets for thegiven simulated roll of three dice and selection of the Feng Shuiindicator; a control mechanism that provides for the simulated roll ofthe three dice and selection of the Feng Shui indicator and thencalculates a result of the one or more session bets; and a playerfeedback mechanism that provides the player with the result of the oneor more session bets.
 2. The slot machine of claim 1, wherein the set ofFeng Shui indicators is comprised of six Feng Shui indicators.
 3. Theslot machine of claim 2, wherein the six Feng Shui indicators areassociated with luck, wealth, wind, longevity, health and fertility. 4.The slot machine of claim 2, wherein the selection of the Feng Shuiindicator is made by a simulated roll of a dice containing one of eachof the six Feng Shui indicators on each of the dice's six faces.
 5. Theslot machine of claim 2, wherein the display mechanism displays: acarousel wheel with an inner wheel divided into six inner wheelsegments, each of which bears a unique inner wheel designationrepresenting the numbers 1 through 6; a middle wheel divided into sixsegments, each of which bears a unique middle wheel designationrepresenting the numbers 1 through 6; and an outer wheel divided into atleast six outer segments, each of which bears a unique outer wheeldesignation representing the numbers 1 through 6; and the set of FengShui markers can be randomly distributed in the inner wheel, middlewheel and outer wheel segments; and wherein the carousel can be spun sothat each of the inner, the middle and the outer wheels rotate withdifferent degrees of freedom and independently of one another; andwherein after the carousel is spun, and each of inner, the middle andthe outer wheels have rotated, said wheels will stop such that one ofthe inner wheel segments will align itself moving outwardly from theinner wheel with one of the middle wheel segments, one of the outerwheel segments and one Feng Shui indicator.
 6. The slot machine of claim5, wherein the outer wheel is rotated by shuffling the position of theunique outer wheel designations relative to one another when thecarousel is spun.
 7. The slot machine of claim 6, wherein the rotationof each of the inner wheel, the middle wheel and the outer wheel stop atdifferent points in time.
 8. The slot machine of claim 2, wherein thesimulated roll of the three dice and selection of the Feng Shuiindicator is performed by a computer software program.
 9. A slotmachine, comprising: an input mechanism for allowing a player to maketwo or more session bets of differing amounts of betting units for agiven session event involving a simulated roll of three dice; a displaymechanism for representing the results of the given session event; acontrol mechanism for accepting the session bets from the player,generating the given session event, and settling the session bets fromthe player based upon the results of the given session event; and aplayer feedback mechanism for providing the player with the results ofsettling the session bets from the player based upon the results of thegiven session event.
 10. The slot machine of claim 9, wherein the inputmechanism allows the player to make any of the following group of Sic Bobets tied to the outcome of the simulated roll of three dice: a SmallSic Bo bet; a Big Sic Bo bet; an Any Triple Sic Bo bet; a Sic Bo bet ofthe total number of the session roll of 3 dice; a Sic Bo bet for a pairof dice with the number x; a Sic Bo bet for triples of the number x; aSic Bo bet for the number x, which may be from 1 to 6; and a Sic Bo betfor both the numbers x and y; wherein x and y can be from 1 to
 6. 11.The slot machine of claim 9, wherein the input mechanism allows theplayer to make session bets selected from a group of Sic Bo bets tied tothe outcome of the simulated roll of three dice by using the followingdesignations: a number 1 is used to represent a Small Sic Bo bet; anumber 2 is used to represent a Big Sic Bo bet; a number 3 is used torepresent an Any Triple Sic Bo bet; a number from 4 to 17 is used torepresent a Sic Bo bet of the total number of the session roll of 3dice; a number selected from the group consisting of 2x is used torepresent a Sic Bo bet for a pair of dice with the number x; a numberselected from the group consisting of 3x is used to represent a Sic Bobet for triples of the number x; a number 0x is used to represent a SicBo bet for the number x, which may be from 1 to 6; and a number 0xy isused to represent a Sic Bo bet for both the numbers x and y; wherein xand y can be from 1 to
 6. 12. The slot machine of claim 9, wherein theinput mechanism also allows the player to make a bet, as one of thesession bets, that one of a set of Feng Shui indicators will be selectedfor the given session event, and wherein each of the set of Feng Shuiindicators uniquely represents a single unique Feng Shui designation.13. The slot machine of claim 12, wherein the display mechanismdisplays: a carousel wheel with an inner wheel divided into six innerwheel segments, each of which bears a unique inner wheel designationrepresenting the numbers 1 through 6; a middle wheel divided into sixsegments, each of which bears a unique middle wheel designationrepresenting the numbers 1 through 6; and an outer wheel divided intosix pairs of outer wheel segments, each of which bears a unique outerwheel designation representing the numbers 1 through 6 and one of theset of Feng Shui markers; and wherein the carousel can be spun so thatthe inner and the middle wheels rotate in different directions and stopat different times from each and outer wheel designations are allshuffled relative to one another; and wherein after the carousel isspun, and each of inner and the middle and wheels have rotated, and theouter wheel designations have been shuffled, the inner wheel, the middlewheel and the outer wheel will be aligned such that a chosen inner wheeldesignation will be aligned with a chosen middle designation and a chosepair of outer wheel segments.
 14. The slot machine of claim 13, whereinshuffling of the outer wheel stops after the inner and middle wheelshave stopped rotating.
 15. The slot machine of claim 14, wherein thesimulated roll of the three dice and selection of the Feng Shuiindicator is performed by a computer software program.
 16. A slotmachine, comprising: a display mechanism that includes a carousel wheel,comprising: an inner wheel divided into x inner wheel segments, each ofwhich bears an inner wheel designation; a middle wheel divided into ysegments, each of which bears a middle wheel designation; and an outerwheel divided into z outer wheel segments, each of which bears an outerwheel designation; wherein the carousel can be spun so that each of theinner, the middle and the outer wheels rotate with different degrees offreedom and independently of one another; and wherein y is greater thanor equal to x, z is greater than or equal to y and both y and z aredivisible by x; an input mechanism for allowing a player to make one ormore session bets for a session spin of the carousel; a bettingcollection device for collecting betting units wagered by the player inassociation with the one or more session bets; a control mechanism thatcreates the session spin of the carousel and then calculates a result ofthe one or more session bets based upon the session spin; and a playerpayout device for distributing betting units to the player based uponthe result of the one or more session bets.
 17. The slot machine ofclaim 16, wherein x is equal to 6 and each of the inner wheel segmentsbears a unique inner wheel designation representing the numbers 1through 6, wherein y is equal to 6 and each of the middle wheel segmentsbears a unique middle wheel designation representing the numbers 1through 6; and wherein z is equal to 6 and each of the outer wheelsegments bears a unique outer wheel designation representing the numbers1 through
 6. 18. The slot machine of claim 16, wherein a is equal to 6and each of the inner wheel segments bears a unique inner wheeldesignation representing the numbers 1 through 6, wherein y is equal to6 and each of the middle wheel segments bears a unique middle wheeldesignation representing the numbers 1 through 6; and wherein z is equalto 12 and each pair of contiguous outer wheel segments bears a uniqueouter wheel designation representing the numbers 1 through 6 and aunique Feng Shui indicator.
 19. The slot machine of claim 16, whereinthe inner wheel and the middle wheel rotate in opposite directions whenthe carousel is spun.
 20. The slot machine of claim 16, wherein thelength of time that the control mechanism takes to create the sessionspin of the carousel is at least partly dependent upon the total numberof betting units wagered by the player for the session spin.
 21. Theslot machine of claim 16, wherein after the carousel is spun, and eachof inner, the middle and the outer wheels have rotated, said wheels willstop such that each of the inner wheel segments will align itself movingoutwardly from the inner wheel with (y÷x) of the middle wheel segmentsand (z÷x) of the outer wheel segments.
 22. The slot machine of claim 16,wherein the slot machine provides a mechanism for allowing the player tovary the length of time it takes for the carousel to perform the sessionspin.